Ask me anything about the future of blockchain in education and anywhere else beyond the well-known fintech world - projects, industries, value, trends!

Blockchain technologies have a huge disruptive potential, but also a lot of speculation around them. If you want to start, join or invest in a blockchain project, you may be wondering which projects in which industries provide what vaule, at what cost, what's the speed of change and the future they create in a particular field.

To answer all of these questions, the European Comission recently annouced it's launching its own Blockchain Observatory. Having received a development grant from The European Comission to support the expansion of the project I am leading - OS.UNIVERSITY, the world's learning and development ledger on the Euthereum blockchain, I have plenty of first-hand entrepreneureal and research insights to share.

Whether you are interested in what's the value of the EDU Tokens behind OS.UNIVERSITY or what's the application of blockchain in education in general (or maybe in other industries beyond the well-known fintech world), I will try to answer these questions, based on my experience as a project lead of a succesful EU-backed award-winning crypto-project*.

* OS.UNIVERSITY was recognized as one of Top 10 Social innovation ideas in 2016 Living Progress Challenge, run globally by Hewlet Packard Enterprise. In 2017 I was recognized as the best doctoral candidate in Republic of Bulgaria for my research work on the project.

Patricia, cryptocurrency is a form of private currency a.k.a. free money (free as in freedom, not free as in free beer!) We have prof. Kevin Dowd of Cato Institute at the board of OS.UNIVERSITY - he's one of the biggest names in the field. Breakthroughs in cryptography/DLT just enabled the rapid growth and (mass) adoption of private currencies, especially in the light of the 2006/8 collapse of the classical banking system. I recommend you checking out prof. Dowd's page on Wikipedia for a list of his writings on the subject, many of which freely available online.

@Marieg, OS.UNIVERSITY is the world's learning and development ledger/register on the Ethereum blockchain. While creating informative and educational content is what we do on a daily basis, our aim is to connect the existing learning providers with the right learners and the right businesses at the right time, through the Ethereum blockchain. For the purpose I mention, we have developed 3 truly unique smart contracts. You can read more on the subject here. For blockchain-related learning resources, please have a look at the comment below. Thanks for your question!

@ANNABELLE84, this chat is a good place to start :) Further on, Quora's topic on crypto at https://www.quora.com/topic/Cryptocurrencies is also a good learning resource, because you see the many perspectives on one place instead of taking your info from a ''single source of truth''. For the EDU token as a prominent cryptocurrency project, keep an eye on our Reddit channel or join our Telegram community.

@HERMAJANI, check out this Business Insider article. It is a bit of an arguable reading, but one cannot denay it - chances are greater, compared to a casino :) However, gamblers are everywhere around us and they can lose their money easily on bascially every possible market (or bet). I don't gamble, and don't advise you either. Be smart with your money, and time. Research and invest wiselly.

I would like to know your thoughts on blockchain disrupting the academic journal publications system. At the moment, the system is very centralised (a few big companies own many of the most "reputable" journals), and the creators of content, i.e., the academics academic institutions are the ones paying for the 'priviledge' of being published in these journals. I can see some potential there for blockchain technology to make this process fairer, but I myself am a social science academic and not a tech person, so I would love your thoughts on whether this would be possible! Keep up the good work :)

@Carol, I have to start by apologizing for my delayed response to your great question, i have simply missed it... Hopefully, I got back to it as this is a brilliant topic to discuss. But a great cause to act as well. The blockchain definitelly has the power to disrupt the academic journal publishing system/market. There are guys working in Germany around that, but the OS.UNIVERSITYproject team has the potential to contribute as well (it is in our research roadmap). If you happen to be based in Germany, write me at hristian.daskalov @ os.university and I will try to find the contacts of the team. If not - still write, join our efforts. Your experise and insights as an academic will be highly appreciated in order to dig deeper into this use-case (of which I am very passionate as well). No need for tech. skills, just bring with yourself the good old research curiosity. :) Best, Hristian

@HAYNESMICHAEL, I belive that the most challenging thing is to explain the broader application of the blockchain technology, e.g. smart contracts, beyond cryptocurrencies. Blockchain for business has huge potential (though I work on blockchain for education mainly). Check out what the guys from Linux, IBM, and many others, are doing with Hyperledger - amazing!

@Tina96, such a thoughtful question - thank you! In my case, it is the opportunity to create around the technology, and share the results of my work with an open-minded community, eager to explore new blockchain applications. Check some of my presentations at Slide Share to see where my creative work is focused and have a look at OS.UNIVERSITY's whitepaper. Making this project happen is by far the biggest advantage, both personally and socially.

@P.Petrova, many invest in crypto simply because of the volatility, which means bigger profits, but bigger losses as well. With the broader adoption this volatility will significantly drop, so short answer is yes. However, out of the many cryptocurrencies out there, high percenage will fail. So be aware of the challenges ahead and only invest in trusted projects you have researched.

@Adrienne, no way crypto is coming to an end. Even with the hardest of crashes - the value will only transform (erasing or allocating huge chuncks of the market is also a matter of transformation). Even if such a catastrophe occurs one day sooner or later, affecting pioneering projects such as Bitcoin, this won't be the end, just a milestone with a hard learning curve. There might be a lot of ''civilian casualties'', though, if fully-fledged attack on crypto occurs from regulators (or from within the community). Therefore, certain regulation (especially on trading) is needed - but only if smart! Education is extremelly needed as well, given the expansion of the crypto world, still in its early days. To neglect the crypto market, its underlying community nature and unique laws of governance/evolution path is the worst strategy of all - no matter if you are a sceptic, evangelist, speculative/strategic investor, regulator...

@Andia - Yes, totally! It's a new asset class that is here to stay. But it will evelove as well! Who may have thought 10 years ago, that the blockchain would serve as a perfect medium to connect job seekers with job providers? Well, today I am working on this exact application with Bulgaria's leading job marketplace. Check out the story at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VPOtCfX2UM

@Andrej, this is probably my favorite question for the day. I believe that (pure) cryptocurrencies will have stable future if they are to pursue a path towards being adopted as means of exchange and the more they steer towards being understood as an investment vechicle, the harder it will become for them to combine the best of the both worlds (for reasons quite obvious). So each project should define and maybe charter what it strives to become in 5-10 years time. Utility tokens are another story (I am leading a utility token project at OS.UNIVERSITY). Security tokens -likewise. So what we see is a clear path towards differentiation in perceived value and use-cases, but those who avoid differentiating in order not to lose out from alternative applications, are to get hanging in between different bases and will inevitably lose their compentitive advantage that they need to sustain in order to survive. My comment is only from the side of the cryptocurrency communities, i.e. how they are to manage the process. The users themselves can do whatever they feel like doing with a coin/token in their wallet, but you need to incentivise your audience. Long story-short - digital money are to grow in adoption. From investment perspective, if you look at Fortune 500 today, most of the stock won't make it in 50 years. The same for most crypto investments. That's the way the cookie crumbles..

@Edith, investment education does, both fundamental and techincal analysis. Presuming you speak of investment trends. Here is a good list of open online courses on the subject - www.class-central.com/tag/investing. If you speak of technology trends when it comes to crypto(currencies), similar to the topic of this AMA, then I would say that learning about blockchain technologies comes second after learning about the trends in economy and society in general. E.g. Bitcoin came to be as a result of years-long strive for privacy from the crypto-community (scientists, liberatrians, etc.) + the banking collapse of 2006/8. So if you want to predit trends in general, keep your mind open for exploring the broader picture around you.

@Georodmar, I research the success factors in open source projects. To answer your question, we need to agree on a definition for success. For me, success is when the project fulfils its mission. But I guess this is too strategic if the goal is to find fast 5-10x coin/token(s) ... which is the definition for a successful cryptocurrency for a lot of folks out there. As i use this AMA session to try to be of use to all readers, I will give examples in both directions. Exchange tokens are generally a smart short-term investment (serious exchanges only!). The Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange (GBX) is a good example I have been following (disclaimer - no affiliation to the project). Beyond exchanges, look for established/reliable entities that are entering into the crypto world, transforming their business models for the sake of adding value to their operations and offerings. Also, look for the contenders - the ones who challenge the status quo. Their disruptive models should be backed by independent resarch, arising trends, etc. The OS.UNIVERSITY EDU Token (EDUX) that I am leading, as an example in that regard, steps on 130-pages report by the European Comission, claiming for the blockchain to possess the potential to disrupt the world of education. The Comission would not get into bulding what it foresees to revolutionze one or another industry, but it is your task to find the projects that are executing on their findings.

@Nickie, yes. I shadow-authored an analysis for a prestigious newsletter recently, that is read by quite crypto-sceptic business leaders. Let me share a few thoughts from that occasion, because i belive i was able to get to an agreement with the audience. Bitcoin is not a bubble to burst, because it is a community driven project. Even if retail/speculative investments are written-off and this leads to something more than just a simple correction (remember last-weeks 6k drama?), this won't be the end of the project. Neglecting the community side of the story is simply stupid. A company may dump its failing software, an investment bank will definitelly dump its toxic assets, but (the core of) an open source community will never dump its project, because of short-term volatility. However (!) -this community may be the one to create the inevitable crash one day - it is what matters most. The Bitcoin community is the best keeper of the value of the Bitcoin, but also the biggest risk/potential enemy in the long run. As long as the community is kept healthy, the value will recover any uncertainty, no matter where the attack comes from - regulators or scammers (e.g. Bitcoin X,Y,Z, etc.) If the community disintegrates - 10,000 USD may turn into 10 cents soon after. To understand this, you don't need to specialize in technical analysis, but in community building, open source governance.. I advice you to keep a close eye on this aspect of the projects you invest in, at any point in time. If you are interested in edtech projects, have a look at OS.UNIVERSITYBitcoinTalk page as well and engage into the conversation. Wish you good luck!

@ANKICAGESTAK - thank you, good one! Me personally - no. Why? Because I try to avoid giving investment advice in general - I share my opinion, based on my research and managerial expertise in the field, only if/when asked (as in this AMA session). Otherwise, I try to avoid selling anyting to anyone... You may be surprised to hear that, given the fact that I am leading a crypto project (a lot of agressive salesmen out there), but check out for yourself at OS.UNIVERSITYTelegram community - serious questions, honest conversations. I belive that launching an ICO in today's partially regulated environment requires even bigger personal responsibility and integrity (to compensate the lack of smart regulation). My personal advice to you (if you are into consulting/investments) - educate your investors, don't push them into anything you/they would regret. An educated investor is what crypto projects really need in order to sustain their value in the long run - not whales, speculants, lambo-dreamers or moon-travelers. No serious company made it with such investors (ever!)

@Kkkaterynak, yes I have - Europe (UK, Latvia, Czech Republic) and South America (Brazil) - as a doctoral candidate, I have been invited to give lectures/presentations/speeches on the subject in universities and events thoughout these locations. I try to reflect on these experiences in OS.UNIVERSITY's blog at https://medium.com/@opensourceuni. Check it out and tell me if you find something interesting on the subject.

Feb 9, 3:42PM EST1

About #CryptoAMA

Welcome to #CryptoAMA, an AMA Event channel for everything crypto, blockchain, ICOs, and other fintech projects related to cryptocurrencies.

The #CryptoAMA channel (http://www.CryptoAMA.com) is owned and operated by AMAfeed, LLC.

AMAfeed is an AMA Search Engine.
We crawl the entire Internet looking for good sources of AMA's and bring them to you in a simple, easy to use interface.
We also own and operate a large network of dedicated AMA Event channels.
Each of our AMA Event channels encourages open, authentic, candid discussions that empowers our community to gain a better understanding of their chosen topics of interest via the AMA Event format.

All copyrights, trademarks, product names and logos appearing on the site are the property of their respective owners.

AMAfeed is an AMA Search Engine.
We crawl the entire Internet looking for good sources of AMA's and bring them to you in a simple, easy to use interface.
We also own and operate a large network of dedicated AMA Event channels.
Each of our AMA Event channels encourages open, authentic, candid discussions that empowers our community to gain a better understanding of their chosen topics of interest via the AMA Event format.

All copyrights, trademarks, product names and logos appearing on the site are the property of their respective owners.

By continuing to use this site you consent to the use of cookies on your device,
our Privacy policy and Terms of service.
You can change your Cookie Settings at any time but parts of our site will not function correctly without them.